Cellular carton



I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lNVENTO R Oscar L. Vines BY o. L. VINESI CELLULAR CARTON J Mu Filed July 5, 1955 Aug. 18, 1959 O. L. VINES CELLULAR CARTON Filed July 5, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NQ i ATTOZQTZ Q Yemib United States Patent Ofili ce Patented Aug. 18, 1959 CELLULAR CARTON Oscar L. Vines, New York, N.Y., assignor to Continental Paper Company, Ridgefield Park, N.J., a COIPOl'fltlOIl of New Jersey 1 Application July s, 1955, Serial No.js19,sss

3 Claims. 01. 29-43 .This invention relates to cellular cartons and more particularly to a unitary blank for a cellular carton having three rows of cells and three or more cells per row and to the structure of a cellular carton formed from the blank.

Conventionally, cellular cartons having three rows of cells and three or more cells per row have been formed from a simple box having a separate insert to divide the box into a plurality of cells. Ithas always been necessary to build up the insert from individual members of carton stock provided with cooperating slots for locking the members into a cellulargrid. Such inserts must be assembled by hand or with the aid of expensive machinery. This method of producing'cellular cartons is expensive and time consuming. Moreover, the matter of shipping the components of sucha carton from the manufacturer to the packer of goods is unduly complicated and it is necessary for the packer to have the special equipment necessary to assemble theinserts or ,to bear the expense of assembling them by hand. An additional difficulty is that such cartons are not adaptable to the modern techniques of carton design which provide enhanced strength and rigidity with consequent greater protectionfor the goods packed in'them. v

For these and otherfreasons it has been the practice to utilize double row cartons even though the goods to I be packed could more conveniently, attractively and economically be packed in three-row cartons if suitable cartons of the three-row variety were available.

I have invented a cellular carton having three rows of cells and three or more cells perrow which carton may be formed in its entirety from a single rectangular blank of cartonstock. This blank, as well as the carton itself, is the result of my invention. The blank from which my new carton is, formed comprises a rectangular piece of carton stock having a plurality of transverse, hinge lines scored or perforated in the stock todivide it into a plurality. of panels including, in the order named from one end, intermediate and first row divider structure panels, a first side wall panel, a,ma1'n bottom panel, a second side wall panel, a second row divider structurepanel, a first interior wall, a secondary .bottom .panel,-and asecond interior wall panel Means are provided for securing the distal edge of the second interior wall panel to one of the previously-named panels when the blank is assembled into a carton and .m'eans'are also provided for securing the distaledge of the intermediate row divider panel to one of the previously-named panels when the blank is assembled. v v H Further in accordance with my invention, eachof the divider structure panels is provided with divider supporting members at spaced locations along the hinge lines of the panel and extending inwardly thereof. Row dividers are joined by means of hinge lines along-portions of the peripheriesof -thedividers to the supporting members. The remainder of the periphery of each divider is separated from the panel by through cuts.

The carton blank of myinvention is formed into a carton structure by folding the blank along each of the transverse hinge lines delineating the several panels into which the blank is divided to form a carton structure which comprises a main bottom, first and second upright side walls joined along their lower edges to opposite edges, respectively, of the main bottom and first and second upright interior walls spaced from and parallel to the side walls. An outerrow dividing structure is joined along its opposite edges, respectively, to the upper edges of the second side wall and the first interior wall. Similarly, another row divider structure is joined along its opposite edges, respectively, to the upper edges of the first and second interior walls and another row divider structure is joined along its opposite edges to the upper edges, respectively, of the first side wall and the second interior wall. A secondary bottom joins the lower edges of the two interior walls and is secured to the upper surface of the main bottom.

Each of the row divider structures comprises four or more divider supporting members spaced along the structure and extending inwardly from its opposite edges. A divider is joined along a portion of its periphery to each divider supporting member. These dividers depend from the supporting members between the adjacent upright walls defining the particular row and divide that row into three or more cells.

An outstanding feature of the invention here disclosed is that a blank for a cellular carton having three rows and three or more cells per row may be formed from a single rectangular piece of canton stock. Moreover, the carton structure which is formed from the blank of my invention is a novel three-row collapsible carton which may be easily and quickly erected by hand or with the aid of simple apparatus. No additional and separate structural members are required to form a complete carton. The carton collapses into a perfectly flat rectangular form which is easy to pack and ship in large numbers.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully comprehend my invention, a particular carton blank and carton structure embodying my invention are described below. In the course of the detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which:

I Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly cut away, of a blank for a three-row carton;

Fig. 2. is a plan view of a cellular carton having three rows of cells;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken along line 3-3, of the carton of Fig. 2 and is partly cut away;

Fig. 4 is an end view of a carton of the kind shown in Fig. 2 in 'a partially collapsed position.

Referring now to Fig. 1, thecarton blank shown there is formed of a rectangular piece of carton stock. The length and width of the blank in this particular embodiment are so proportioned as to form a carton having generally cubical cells. However, as the description proceeds, it will be apparent that the dimensions of the blank and its several panels may be varied to form a carton having individual cells which are other than cubical. The exact shape of the individual cells will, of course, be varied to suit-them'to the articles to be packed in the particularcarton. p j V For purposes of future reference, I will here designate the transverse edges of the blank as 1 and 2 and the lon gitudinal edges as 3 and 4. The blank is provided with transverse hinge or score lines 5 through 13, inclusive,

which serve to divide the blank into a plurality of panels. From right to left as seen in Fig. 1, these panels are a securing panel or strip 14, an intermediate 'row divider structure panel 15, a first outer row divider structure panel 16, a first side wall panel 17, a main bottom panel 18, a second side wall panel 19, a second row divider 3 structure panel 20, a first interior wall panel 21, a secondary bottom panel 22, and a second interior wall panel 23.

In order that the details of the blank may be shown in the largest possible scale, the .central portion of the bottom panel 18 is cut away in Fig; 1, but it is to be understood that the dimension of the bottom panel between the hinge lines 8 and 9 is substantially equal to the width of the second divider structure panel 20 between the lines 10 and 11 plus the width of the first divider structure panel 16 and of the intermediate divider structure panel between the hinge lines 5 and 7. The relation between these dimensions will appear in the course of the description of the carton structure.

The transverse edge 2 of the blank is provided with securing tabs 24 through 28, inclusive. A portion of each of these tabs is joined to the interior wall panel 23 along hinge or score lines 29 and another portion is joined to the former portion along hinge or score lines 30 perpendicular to lines 20 but is separated from the panel 23 proper by cut lines 31 which are, in effect, segments of the transverse edge 2 of the blank. It should be noted at this point that tabs 24 and 25 extend downwardly from that portion joined to the panel 23 whereas tabs 26, 27 and 28 extend upwardly from their portions joined to the panel 23. The reason for this particular arrangement of the tabs will appear in connection with the description of the assembly of the blank to form the carton structure.

Each of the divider structure panels has a novel arrangement of elements which provides for the carton formed from the blank a plurality of dividers for separating each of the three rows into three or more cells as required. A feature of this novel arrangement is that dividers are provided without the necessity of extensions of the carton blank beyond its rectangular boundary. By utilizing this aspect of my invention, one is able to effect a substantial saving of carton stock and to produce a simpler and more easily handled carton blank. Accordingly, each of the divider structure panels 15, 16 and 20 is provided with end divider supporting members 32 and 33 located adjacent the opposite longitudinal edges 3 and 4 of the blank and extending between the opposite transverse hinge lines, e.g. 10 and 11 of panel 20, delineating the particular panel. These end divider supporting members have end dividers .36 and 37 joined thereto along the hinge lines 34 and 35, respectively. Each of these end dividers extend from the hinge line joining it to its end supporting member toward the longitudinal center line of the blank and the remainder of the periphery of each of the end dividers is separated from the structure panel along cut lines 38, 39 and 40.

The invention is directed generally to a blank for a cellular carton having three rows of cellsand to the structure of a carton having three or more cells per row. I have chosen to illustrate my invention by describing particular embodiments providing four cells per row. Therefore, at spaced intervals along the hinge lines delineating a structure panel, e.g. 20, I provide three pairs of opposed intermediate row divider supporting members 41a, b; 42a, b; 43a, b. Each of these intermediate supporting members is defined by a segment of a hinge line, e.g. 10 or 11, delineating the structure panel, by a portion of the cut line 39, and by a hinge line 44 extending across the structure panel in a direction longitudinally of the blank.

It should be noted at this point that the pair of inter- .mediate supporting members 41a, 12 extends toward the longitudinal edge 3 of the blank whereas the pair of intermediate supporting members 42a, b extends toward the longitudinal edge 4. The portion of the panel between these adjacent pairs of supporting members is divided substantially in half by a cut line 45 to form, in conjunction with cut lines 46 and 47 collinear with hinge lines 10 and 11, respectively, a pair of opposed inter- 4 mediate row dividers 48 and 49. Divider 48 is joined to the pair of supporting members 41a, b along its hinge line 44 and the divider 49 is .joined to the pair of supporting members 42a, b along its hinge line 44.

In this embodiment of my invention which has four cells per row, I provide an additional intermediate divider 50 joined to the pair of supporting members 43a, b along their associated hinge line 44. This divider 50 is similar in shape to end dividers 36 and 37 and its periphery, other than the portion defined by the hinge line 44, is separated from the remainder of the panel by cut lines 38, 39 and 40.

It will be understood that if the carton were to have only three cells per row only the two end dividers 36 and 37 and the pair of opposed intermediate dividers 48 and 49 would be required. In a carton having five or more cells per row it is only necessary to add to the panel structure a number of additional intermediate dividers similar to 50.

As an additional feature I also provide cushioning tabs 51 spaced along the side wall panels 17 and 19 adjacent the hinge lines 7 and 10. Portions of the periphery of each of these tabs are freed from the panels by cut lines 38 and 40 and by cut lines 52 and 53. The tabs are joined to the side wall panels along hinge lines 54. Each tab is also provided with a hinge line 55 parallel to hinge line 54 to divide the tab into two portions. The function of these tabs in the erected carton will be described below.

In Fig. 1, I show the location of suitable places to apply glue to hold the carton in its assembled state. Parallel bands of glue are applied at 56 and 57 on the upper surface of bottom panel 22 and to the lower surfaces of the tabs 24 through 28, inclusive. Glue is also applied to the lower surface of the securing strip 14.

The assembly of the blank to form the carton structure is best described with reference to Fig. 4 in which the various elements of the structure bear reference numerals assigned to corresponding panels in the blank. The portions of the blank to the right and left of hinge lines 8 and 9, respectively, are folded upwardly about the hinge lines 8 and 9. Next, the panels to the left of the hinge line 10 on the blank are folded inwardly about that hinge line so that the panels 20 through 23 extend over the bottom panel 18. Then the panel 23 is folded upwardly about the hinge line 13 and the panel 21 is folded upwardly about the hinge line 12 while being simultaneously folded downwardly about the hinge line 11. Now the bottom panel 22 having the glue strips thereon is centered over the main bottom panel 18 and is glued in place.

Next, the divider structure panel 16 is folded to the left about the hinge line 7. Then tabs 24 through 28 are folded downwardly about the hinge line 29 into a horizontal position and are glued to the underside of the divider supporting members 32 and 33 and 41b, 42b and 43b of the divider structure 16. It is to be noted at the cut-away portion of Fig. 2 that a portion of each of the tabs is also glued to the underside of the divider joined to the divider support to which the tab is glued. The securing strip 14 is now folded downwardly about the hinge line 5 and is glued to the interior Wall panel 21 adjacent its upper edge.

This completes the assembly of the carton and its erection is simply accomplished by moving the side panels and the intermediate wall panels into an upright position which simultaneously causes the divider structure panels 15, 16 and 20 to assume horizontal positions directly over the bottom panel 18. Then the end dividers 36 and 37 in each row are folded downwardly about the hinge lines 34 and 35, respectively, to a substantially vertical position between the adjacent walls defining the row. Similarly, the intermediate row dividers 48, 49 and 50 of each row are folded downwardly about the hinge lines 44 to a substantially vertical position and the carton is completely erected. A feature of the carton of my invention is that the row dividers need not be folded downwardly as a separate operation but may be folded downwardly merely by the force of the articles being inserted in each cell of the carton.

When fully erected the carton structure according to my invention comprises a main bottom 18, first and second upright side walls 17 and 19 and first and second interior walls 21 and 23. The secondary bottom 22 serves as means for joining the lowefedges of the interior walls 21 and 23 to the bottom panel 18. The first divider structure panel is joined along its opposite edges to the upper edges of the'first side wall panel 17 and the second interior wall 23. Similarly, the second divider structure 20 is joined along its opposite edges to the upper edges respectively of the second side wall 19 and the first interior wall 21 and the intermediate row divider structure 15 is joined along its opposite edges to the upper edges of the first and second interior walls 21 and 23.

As seen in Figs. 2 and 3 my new three-row carton having three or more cells per row is provided with end row dividers 36 and 37 depending from divider supporting members 32 and 33 to close the opposite ends of each row. Each row is divided into three or more cells by a pair of opposed row dividers 48 and 49 depending from the pairs of intermediate divider supporting members 41a, b and 42a, b and by as many more intermediate row dividers 50 supported by pairs of members 43a, b as are necessary to divide the row into the required number of cells. These dividers depending between adjacent walls of the erected carton keep the carton walls upright and provide the strength and rigidity inherent in the cooperative relation of the components of the structure.

As previously described, there are provided cushioning tabs 51 which are folded about the hinge lines 54 and 55 to extend into the adjacent cells of the carton as shown in Fig. 2. The inherent resilience of carton stock at the hinge lines causes the tabs to act as springy wedges which tend to hold firmly in place fragile objects packed in the cells of the outer rows of the carton and to cushion such objects against shocks.

I have described in detail a particular carton blank and carton structure embodying my invention of a cellular three-row carton having three or more cells per row. it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that my invention fulfills a need for a carton of this type which can be made from a unitary blank and which does not require any separate inserts to form the cells. Moreover, the novel arrangement of the row dividers whereby they are formed from portions of the carton blank lying entirely within the rectangular boundaries of the blank alfords substantial economies of stock in forming the blank and of shipping space in transporting large numbers of blanks from the manufacturer to the packer.

The carton structure is easily erected and collapsed by hand, it is durable enough to be reused many times over, and it has the strength and rigidity necessary to protect fragile articles from shock and crushing encountered in normal handling procedures.

The details of the illustrative embodiment described above are not intended as limitations on the scope of my invention which is defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A blank for a cellular carton having three rows of cells, each row having three or more cells, which blank comprises a rectangular piece of carton stock having a plurality of transverse hinge lines delineating on the blank a plurality of panels which serve the erected carton formed from the blank as the named structural members thereof, the panels being, from one end of the blank in the order named, intermediate and first row divider structure panels, a first monopanelar side wall panel, a main bottom panel, a second monopanelar side wall panel, a second row divider structure panel, a first monopanelar interior wallpanel, a secondary bottom panel, a second monopanelar interior wall panel, glue strips on the distal edge of'said second interior wall panel for securing said distal edge to one of said structure panels, said glue strips being narrow as compared with the width of the structure panel to which said edge is to be secured, means on the distal edge of said intermediate structure panel for securing the last named edge to another of said panels, each of said divider, structure panels comprising four or more divider supporting members at spaced locations along the hinge lines delineating that panel and extending inwardly of that panel, end row dividers for the supporting members nearest the longitudinal edges of the blank, each of said end row dividers being joined to its associated supporting member at a hinge line along a portion of the periphery of the divider and extending away from the nearest longitudinal edge of the blank, the

' remainder of the periphery of each end divider being separated from the panel by through cuts, and a pair of oposed intermediate row dividers, each being joined at a hinge line along a portion of its periphery to one of adjacent supporting members remote from the longitudinal edges of said blank, said intermediate dividers extending in opposite directions from their respective hinge lines and having the remainder of their peripheries separated from the structure panel by through cuts.

2. A cellular carton formed from a single sheet of carton stock and having three rows, each row having three or more cells, said carton comprising a main bottom, first and second upright monopanelar side walls joined along their lower edges to opposite edges respectively of said main bottom, a first outer row divider structure joined along one edge to the upper edge of said first side wall, a first upright monopanelar interior wall joined along its upper edge to the edge opposite said one edge of said first divider structure, a second outer row divider structure joined along one edge to the upper edge of said second side wall, an intermediate row divider structure joined along one edge to the edge opposite said one edge of said second divider structure, a second upright monopanelar interior wall joined along its upper edge to said first divider structure adjacent the edge opposite said one edge thereof, a secondary bottom joined along its opposite edges to the lower edges respectively of said first and second interior walls, a glue strip joined along one edge to the edge opposite said one edge of said intermediate row divider structure, said glue strip being secured to said first interior wall adjacent the upper edge thereof, and each of said rows being divided into three or more cells by four or more transverse dividers depending between the adjacent walls defining a row from the divider structure associated therewith, and each of said divider structures having four or more row dividers depending therefrom between the adjacent walls defining a row to divide that row into three or more cells.

3. A cellular carton formed from a single sheet of carton stock and having three rows, each row having three or more cells, said carton comprising a main bottom, first and second upright monopanelar side walls joined along their lower edges to opposite edges respectively of said bottom, a first outer row divider structure joined along one edge to the upper edge of said first side wall, a first upright monopanelar interior wall joined along its upper edge to the edge opposite said one edge of said first divider structure, a second outer row divider structure joined along one edge to the upper edge of said second side wall, an intermediate row divider structure joined along one edge to the edge opposite said one edge of said second divider structure, a second upright monopanelar interior wall joined along its upper edge to said second divider structure adjacent the edge opposite said one edge thereof, and means for joining the lower edges of said first and second interior walls to said bottom, said intermediate divider structure being joined along said edge opposite said one edge to the edges common to said first divider strncture and said first interior wall, each of said row divider structures comprising end divider supporting means adjacent each end of the row, an end divider joined to each end supporting means and depending between the adjacent Wall defining the row, 5 and two adjacent intermediate divider supporting means extending transversely of said row, and an intermediate row divider for each of said intermediate supporting means and joined along a portion thereof adjacent the other of said intermediate supporting means to depend 10 between the adjacent walls defining the row.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Keys Dec. 10, 1901 Miller Jan. 9, 1912 Berniss Oct. 19, 1937 L wer-a u y 1939 Qarson Oct; 19, 1948 Williamson Jan. 30, 1951 Gariepy Feb. 20, 1951 .Saidel Dec. 25, 1951 Bolding Nov. 2, 1954 Vines Sept. 6, 1955 Inman Sept. 20, 1955 

